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Saturday, 30 April 2016

Prince Rogers Nelson – Horoscope Astrology – Birth Chart and when Prince was Last Seen

The Story so Far

The discovery of Prince Rogers Nelson’s death the late
morning of 21st April 2016 at his Paisley Park home in Chanhassen, Minnesota,
shook the world like an emotional earthquake.Many of us felt the tremors, because the music meant something special
to us and, like many fans, I have been following the news around this
event.As an astrologer, I am naturally
curious about how it may be reflected in the patterns of the stars, too.In the days following Prince’s death, nobody
yet knows exactly what happened to bring about that shock outcome – as far as
we are concerned, he died before his time, at an unexpected, unforeseen
moment.He was known to have anything
but a rock and roll lifestyle in the usual sense of drugs and alcohol
excesses.It has been reported, though,
that, less than a week before, there had been a possible overdose of Percocet,
a prescription painkiller, leading to a stop for medical assistance at Moline,
Illinois on April 15th.At the airport
there, Prince is alleged to have received a “save shot” from paramedics – a
strategy to counter serious effects of such drugs, including loss of
consciousness.The more general story
around in the media was that he was suffering from flu symptoms and/or “walking
pneumonia” – an atypical form of the disease, often characterised by fever,
sweating, headache and myalgia/muscle pain.And he may have received some kind of flu shot.

The last sighting of Prince in public seems to have been at
a pharmacy near to his home on the evening of April 20th – reports give 8pm and
indicate this was the last of four trips to the pharmacy, following the
non-fatal overdose, to collect further prescriptions.

Percocet is a narcotic painkiller consisting of a
combination of paracetamol/acetaminophen (an anilide analgesic) with oxycodone,
an opioid analgesic. Along with other, similar combination pharmaceutical
drugs, such as Vicodin, there has been pressure in the USA for its sales to be
limited since 2009, due to knowledge of alleged high incidences of deaths from
acetaminophen overdose and associated liver damage.A Canadian study reported in 2009 also cited
a doubling of all opioid-related deaths in Ontario alongside a five-fold
increase in oxycodone-related deaths across 1991-2007.

The idea of Prince possibly dying from a further drug
overdose might seem especially non-sensical to fans, many of whom are familiar
with details of his clean-living approach to life.A non-drinking, anti-drugs, vegan Jehovah’s
Witness probably quite fairly describes the kinds of choices that Prince made
about the lifestyle he was going to follow, for the larger part of his
life.Given this backdrop to the usual
excesses of a rock and roll lifestyle, it may therefore not be surprising that
so few health issues have been noted in relation to the so-called ‘Purple
One’.What has been reported is that he
suffered from epilectic seizures as a child and, in mid-life, was thought to be
fighting a private battle with hip pain across the last seven years of his
life.Reports have suggested this was
the issue that was being treated with painkillers, particularly around April
14th 2016, when he is thought to have complained that the pain was much worse
after his gig in Atlanta on that date.A
hip replacement operation had been considered in the 00’s but it is thought he
backed away due to his religious faith, which would not have allowed for any
blood transfusions.

There is also a story in the media suggestion that Prince’s
history of epilepsy may have been relevant in that, if he was given medication
for influenza – which he may, apparently, have had for a couple of weeks before
the emergency stop in Illinois for medical treatment – it may not have been
ideally compatible with that medical status.In a few weeks perhaps we will know the fuller story.For now, some of us can only follow the media
and contemplate the stars.

The Astrology

Friends with an interest in astrology have been asking about
the planetary patterns in relation to Prince’s life and death (maybe partly
because they know that I studied his chart for my astrology certification in
the 1990s).As for many people, Prince’s
music was a big part of my life then and I was an avid fan. When I first encountered his music, I was studying for a BA Honours degree in the early to mid 1980s. With friends met through University, astrological studies and personal growth courses, I was later lucky enough to see him perform three
times live: on the 1988/89 Lovesexy Tour at Wembley Arena, the Diamonds and
Pearls Tour in June 1992 at Earls Court and the Act I and II Tour (featuring
songs from the Love Symbol Album) at Wembley Stadium in 1993.It was exhilarating being in his presence and
the music was truly amazing live.He was
the obvious choice for my astrology course paper!Once I began working with his chart I
realised I had given myself a tall order, because it is a deep and complex
chart, which will probably come as no surprise when thinking about the
complexity and range of his music output.Surely it takes a special kind of person to have that kind of breadth
and associated impact from his work.At
the time I was first writing about him, an interviewee had noted that he could
play 22 musical instruments.That number
is curiously present in his birth chart, with Saturn at 22 degrees of
Sagittarius, the asteroid Chiron (aka ‘The wounded healer’) at 22 degrees of
Aquarius and a retrograde Jupiter just pulling back from that same degree (and
the 12th house cusp) in Libra.For
anyone who doesn’t already know, Jupiter is thought to be the planetary symbol
for faith and the 12th house is said to be the place of undoing in a birth
chart.Jupiter also happens to have
co-rulership (with Neptune) over the Pisces Moon in Prince’s chart, placed
close to the cusp of the 4th house, which is said to signify “the end of the
matter” and can also indicate something about the end of life circumstances.

But what of Saturn?Saturn in Sagittarius, according to the Dictionary of Medical Astrology
by Diane L. Cramer, is associated with hip joint disease.Prince hip pain was thought to be a result of
his dancing and jumping acrobatics on stage, as well as his wearing of high
heeled boots and shoes.Pisces happens
to be associated with the feet.For
dancing, in its expressiveness, I think of the sensual, provocative, beautiful
and artistic planet Venus – although fast-moving Mars in Aries might be a
symbol for acrobatics, especially as it is linked with agile Mercury in Gemini
(by sextile aspect).Mars is squared by
Saturn, too, in Prince’s birth chart – a difficult and painful square if ever
there was one.Traditional astrologers
talk about these two planets as the “malefics” and although modern astrology
often sidesteps such descriptions, I think it is hard to skip over them (no pun
intended) when they’re in your face around issues such as pain (Mars) and death
(Saturn).It is also, by the way, rather
hard to see it immediately in the chart because those two planets are both in
Fire signs and usually we’d be looking at a friendly, kindly trine aspect
between the twoBut take a look at the
degree of Mars – it’s at 0 degrees of Aries, therefore fresh out of Pisces
(since the degrees of each zodiac sign run from 0 to 29).And the range of orb between those two
planets, with Saturn at 22 degrees and 52 minutes of Aries, is just 7 degrees
and 39 minutes of separation.It’s like
saying that Mars can’t outrun Saturn during this man’s lifetime, even though
Mars is technically the ‘stronger’ planet by sign.The trouble is, if Mars is at all malefic by
nature, you don’t necessarily want it to have great strength in a chart.Traditionally, it is a Fire planet and so has
associations with inflammation – perhaps one of the key factors with painful
joints.Mars also rules the 6th house in
Prince’s chart – the main area associated with health.It is additionally associated with fevers.

Transiting Mars – that is, the planet up in the sky
currently and just a little while ago – moved into Sagittarius on 6th March 2016
and moved through the first 8 degrees and 54 minutes of the sign until it
visually “parked” itself at that degree and turned to a retrograde pattern on
18th April.That is, it appeared to be
moving backwards against several of the other planets (only several because a
few, such as Jupiter and Saturn, were already retrograde).As though it didn’t want to be left out, the
once heavyweight outer planet Pluto, these days reduced to ‘dwarf’ status - but
nonetheless still considered to be mean, toxic and potentially deadly in its
astrological symbolism – also turned to retrograde motion that day, at 17
degrees and 29 minutes of Capricorn.Why
does this matter in this discussion?BecauseMars and Pluto happen to be joint rulers of
the Ascendant in Prince’s birth chart, at 16 degrees and 42 minutes of
Scorpio.The Ascendant and 1st house can
be viewed as the same point, in charts such as those shown in this article (and
even when astrologers use different house systems: I use Placidus).So when I speak about the Ascendant I also
mean the 1st house.The 1st house is
traditionally associated with the body and the planets that rule that area
become extra important in matters of life and health.For both of the rulers of the 1st house to be
slowing down says something: maybe Prince was meant to be slowing down
(according to his body’s needs?)Maybe
he knew that and maybe he didn’t.Symbolically speaking, one of the powers of a planet such as Saturn is
the power of denial.Maybe, to an
extent, he could deny the extent of his hip problems.Possibly, prescription drugs could numb out
the pain to a degree – for a while.But
with any kinds of drugs, (legal or otherwise) the threat of overdose is very
real and sometimes hard to avoid.Whether that was a factor in his death – and we don’t know, at this
stage - an intuitive take, from the astrology of Prince’s chart, is that he
truly didn’t see that kind of outcome coming.

That may sound obvious, but, if painkillers were in any way
implicated, why would it be?For someone
who not accustomed to using drugs in any format, why would he have been an
expert on their effects?It is, after
all, the fate of many a rock star to succumb to a drug overdose – not
necessarily through the often-assumed (and perhaps media highlighted and
stereotyped) problem of indulgent excess, but because of the general
complications of addiction issues coupled with the too-powerful effects of
anything toxic.In reading the
under-stories through more detailed biographies, it seems some stars had been
trying to quit a drug-addicted lifestyle – and had not been taking the
obviously threatening substances for a while – when they had slipped up and
then a final small dose, or a dabble in something relatively minor (for anyone
without addiction issues and the related tolerance complications) took their
lives. According to recent documentaries, this seemed to have been the case
with performers like Amy Winehouse and, further back, Janis Joplin.In the case of Prince, here’s someone whose
lifestyle, by all accounts, was already very clean.But prescription drugs do have risks attached
and it is possible to underestimate their risks and then, partly through the
components they contain, to experience memory impairment.Perhaps amidst the intensity of pain creeping
back in all too quickly, someone could simply forgot how many doses have been
taken.In Prince’s birth chart, Mars is
sextile Mercury (ie 60 degrees between them) and both of those planets make a
minor but significant aspect to Neptune in the 12th house – an aspect called a
quincunx or inconjunct, which represents a 150 degree relationship to the other
planet, in each case.This configuration
of three planets, as a whole, is known as a Yod, or Finger of God.And Neptune is associated with drugs and
escape (often escape from something painful).We cannot of course draw any definite conclusions, but the inconjunct aspect between planets is
traditionally linked with the idea of a blind spot; it's as though they can't recognise one another.

A Sequence of Events

In the run up to Prince’s death, transiting Mars squared his
chart’s Ascendant (4th September 2015) and traversed across all those points in
the left upper quadrant, linking with Pluto, the Midheaven (MC), Jupiter, the
Moon’s North Node and Neptune.We’re
talking about a lot of planetary activity here, linked with a planet connected
with quick actions and, sometimes, impulsive and rash decisions.Mars was well placed in Aries in Prince’s
chart – such impetuosity may often have served him well.But when usually ‘helpful’ planets go through
a retrograde phase, people can be out of sorts and may not always have such a
strong, intuitive grip on the very best actions (as with all astrology, we have
to remember this is sometimes true – and not always inevitable, neither would
it always have dire consequences).It is
notable that Mars was conjunct the Ascendant in Prince’s birth chart on 4th
February 2016, then square the Moon on 11th March and trine Uranus on 12th
April.This planet, strongly placed in
Prince’s chart, as we know, was, by transit, making contact with planets
involved in many of the main configuration groups in his chart, too – and there
are several of them (outlined below).But after transiting Mars turned retrograde in the sky on 17th April, it
then made a second connection, by trine, to Uranus in Prince’s chart.Just a little old friendly aspect that one,
the trine – representing, possibly, a day to day occurrence – or maybe a
reoccurrence.Maybe the symbol of a
repeat prescription?Or a repeat sudden
eventleading to who knows what – a
heart attack?A seizure?Maybe not such a little event, after
all.But we don’t yet know.

Planetary Configurations in Prince’s Birth Chart

What we do know is that, in his birth chart, as well as the
Mars/ Saturn square and the Yod involving Mars/Mercury and Neptune, there are
also two T-squares – big, powerful groupings of planets that aptly describe the
power house that was Prince!(and at one
time, ‘The Artist Formerly Known As Prince’... known identified then by a symbol
of love, in order that he could take control of the contractual and
distribution side of his music career).Anyone who understands Pluto’s symbolism will likely pick up on the
power issues associated with Pluto on Prince’s chart’s MC, opposing the Pisces
Moon and squaring Mercury in Gemini – the planet of agents, discussions,
liaising and agreeing contractual arrangements and so forth.Again, the pattern is slightly hidden because
Pluto, rather being in early Virgo, is in late Leo – it’s a dissociate, or ‘out
of sign’ aspect.But it is very fully
there.The other big T-square in the
chart involves Venus in Taurus opposed by Neptune in Scorpio (with the Moon’s
North Node), square to Uranus in Leo.This is strongly descriptive of Prince’s shock aspect and his tendency
to spring new developments, so that his fans might suddenly need to flock to a
venue to catch his latest impromptu concert (for example).He was nothing if not unpredictable!Thinking about the involvement there of
Uranus in Leo – and a discussion recently with my colleague and friend, Helen,
about Prince’s chart’s progressed planets – we noted that the progressed Sun in
Leo was moving to a conjunction with progressed Uranus (12th May).Real life events around planetary
progressions often don’t occur ‘to the day’; they are thought to act as a
backdrop and so we tend to allow 6 months either side for progressions to show
and indicate something significant for someone.Leo relates to the heart in the health and physical body side of astrology
and its ruling planet is the Sun; Uranus relates to sudden events.This looks like a possible signature for a
heart attack or some other sudden event involving the heart.

There is a further major aspect in Prince’s chart which we
mustn’t skip over and that is Saturn opposite the Sun in Gemini.If we are all wondering if there was anything
shown in the chart about a shortened life span, well, possibly, there it
is.But remember, astrology students and
fans who know their chart placements, that does not mean that everyone with a
Sun/Saturn hard aspect is going to life a short life!We can’t think about it in that way.We have to look at the individual
situation.And in this case the
individual situation suggests that Saturn in Sagittarius signified hip joint
issues for Prince.Together with this
aspect to the Sun, the symbolism might describe a life (Sun) strongly affected
by that issue – and potentially limited for it.I can’t imagine Prince would have been especially happy singing in a
wheelchair, although who knows.But he
was such an active and physically alive person in his stage performances, it’s
hard to imagine the man with only the music and not the action – albeit that he
was an incredible composer, singer and musician.Just to say, though , that this is an example
of a limitation.Death is obviously the
final limitation.There might be others
and, in some cases, people would find a way to live with them.We have to take the whole chart into
consideration, as astrologers, which means considering what was going on with
other planets, too – Mars, Neptune, Uranus - all those configurations involving
them, too.But it is nonetheless
remarkable that transiting Saturn was once again in Sagittarius all through
this year and last year.Like it or not
Prince Rogers Nelson was heading towards a Saturn return around the time of his
death.For some people the second Saturn
return – close to the age of 60 – provides a chance to deal with something not
dealt with at the first return around age 30.We perhaps cannot know what all of this meant for the notoriously
private Prince.But we can calculate the
date range of his second Saturn return.Incorporating Saturn’s retrograde phase, this created a ‘triple transit’
–that is, three points at which Saturn in the sky would be in the same place as
Saturn in Prince’s birth chart: 19th February, 30th April and 10th November
2016.For whatever reason, the cosmic
pattern seems to describe that Prince’s time had come.And maybe if certain things had been a
different way, it would have come out a different story – if he hadn’t been
alone that night, for example.We can
only conjecture.

The Chart Astrology for When Prince was Last Seen

The last known public sighting of Prince was the night
before his death, when he visited the local pharmacy at 8pm in Chanhassen,
Minnesota.In traditional astrology
theory, it is thought that an event chart can show the events before, during
and after a particular event – the time, date and place for which are the data
used to construct the chart.The event here
is the pharmacy visit, with this being a significant moment – the moment Prince
was last seen alive (as far as we know).

A couple of factors leap out, astrologically, in this
chart.Firstly, retrograde Mars is close
to retrograde Saturn in Sagittarius.Mars is co-chart ruler and indicative of a male – as such we might take
it to symbolise Prince.As we know,
Saturn can symbolise boundaries and endings, occasionally including actual
death.Combining this with a more
intuitive take on the symbolism, the term and state of retrograde movement of a
planet is often connected with words that also have the ‘re’ letters (and
meanings) before them.In this case, the
term recall came to mind.Noticing both
planets in Sagittarius, a sign with spiritual and faith connections, the
Archer’s arrows here seem to be pointing upward to the stars and the heavenly
realms above.The gap between them, in
terms of astrological degrees is about eight degrees; sometimes such a gap can
be linked with a correlation to timing of events in the life situation.There is a possible suggestion here, then, of
Prince’s death having occurred around 8 hours after that 8pm visit – ie between
around 3-5am the next morning.

The Moon has special significance in event charts and in
traditional astrology generally.Here,
the Moon in Aquarius has recently separated from a sextile aspect connection
with Mars and is heading towards a square with the Sun in Taurus.Squares usually represent challenges of some
kind and the potential to turn a corner.Taurus is a Fixed sign, by quality, suggesting that whatever was around
that corner, there probably wasn’t an easy way back.In Sagittarius a planet (or what it represents)
might be negotiable, but rather less so in the Fixed signs like Taurus.

There is another interesting anomaly; Saturn is in a mutual
reception by ‘term’ with Mercury in Taurus.Terms are weaker than rulerships where planets are concerned .So although a mutual reception represents
movement, through a possible swap – and maybe therein ‘another chance’ – it
seems it wasn’t enough to get Prince out of trouble.

Others may see other factors in these charts and it’s always
interesting to extend the astrological discussion.*For now, I wanted to note Pluto and the MC in
Prince’s birth chart: they are on the royal star, Regulus, a significator of
success, wealth and prominence.The
event chart features some interesting ‘Parts’ (from Arabic astrology –
significant pointers found through mathematical calculations of factors in the
chart): the Moon conjunct the Part of Spirit and Pluto conjunct the Part of
Nobility and Honour. There have already been many respectful, loving, heartfelt
tributes by many colleagues, fans and admirers.There is every likelihood that Prince will continue to be remembered
well in the hearts of many people, and across the music airwaves.Time now, I think, to gather together the
CDs and tracks, in their various forms, for a trip down Alphabet Street, noting
the Little Red Corvette in the parking lot, waving to Anastasia and others, who
have hopefully avoided the Thieves in the Temple and too much Pop Life and
Controversy.(Who was wearing the
Raspberry Beret, by the way?) ....What
a rich life he created!

* For those interested in further research: my friend Helen
noted the officially recorded time of death, at the Coroner’s office, for
Prince as 10.17 AM on 21 April 2016 (in Chanhassen) and felt that the chart for
that time was also quite telling.I had
a brief look and noticed that the Moon in Libra, ruler of the chart was
conjunct Black Moon Lilith opposing Venus and Uranus in forward-thinking,
impulsive, ‘do it now’ Aries, in a T-square with Pluto in the rather more
reserved Capricorn.Lilith is often
associated with the ideas connected with other ‘dark’ goddesses, such as Kali
and Persephone.She represents untamed
energy, often linked with sexuality, but refuses to be submissive.If Prince was controversial it was generally
around the explicitness of lyrics in his songs, around themes of a sexual nature.M.Kelley Hunter, in her article on Lilith in the April/May 1999 issue of
the Mountain Astrologer mentions a shift in the collective image of the
feminine and ‘some deep undercurrent of unease that needs to be acknowledged
and healed in our personal lives’.I am
reminded of Prince’s androgyny, as well as the way he raised the image of women
as musicians in his bands.It was quite
something to be in the same room with Sheila E opening Prince’s concert at
Wembley Arena with the most amazing bass coming from the drums at what felt
like a ‘forbidden’ level of thudding sound that went right through the body –
and such a spectacle, to see this stunning, long-haired woman in what I
remember as a gold bikini type outfit, looking very sexy whilst fully in
command of her performance.A woman
drummer!This was the 1980s, of course,
when looking powerful, whether or not that encompassed looking sexy, was a big
deal for women (remember those statement shoulder pads!)The discussion still continues in the
twenty-teens, as to whether it is actually a position of strength for a woman
to appear as ‘sexy’, within the music industry or otherwise – chances are,
Lilith probably wouldn’t have cared what other people thought!There are some great pictures from the tour
on the Prince Lovesexy board at Pinterest.

Copyright Diana McMahon Collis, UK 25/29 April 2016

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2 comments:

Wow! That was amazing...What a great read. Astrology is so telling. Even though it doesn't directly pertain to hi death. I was curious and wondering if you could share, what in his chart addresses his embodiement of both the masculine and feminine, and tendency in the earlier years to play with feminity via some of his clothing choices and behavior.

Thank you for your enthusiastic response and kind comments, Holly! In answer to your question, there are probably lots of things that, together, could be said to add up to a ‘signature’ within the chart, along the lines that you have described. I would include the following for consideration: Sun and Mercury both in Gemini, which is a double-bodied sign, with two ‘faces’ or sides, as it were; Venus, the planet of physical attraction and beauty, squared by the unconventional planet Uranus; the ‘lights’ (Sun and Moon) both in mutable signs – that is, signs with a naturally flexible quality; the Moon in Pisces, which does not want to be pinned down, opposed by Pluto, the planet associated with power and ruling the 1st house of image, here. The Moon is often very personal in expression and that opposition seems to reflect a desire for one’s own power and one’s own world. Then there is the rebellious Lilith (Black Moon) in the 5th house of creativity, and the Sun opposed by Saturn in a mutable sign, perhaps not having a totally comfortable relationship with male authority. Yet Mars is in Aries, suggesting “all man” and comfortable in his own masculinity, whilst Neptune is trine the Moon and opposite Venus, blurring the edges around femininity – it being that the Moon and Venus are usually the most ‘feminine’ components among the lights and planets. I hope some of that makes sense!

About Me

My professional practice is down to earth and compassionate, but my background is academic. I write, edit and provide non-fiction manuscript assessment services for authors in the Mind Body Spirit and Health fields. At http//mindbliss.co.uk, you will find articles, reviews and the option for professional astrology and tarot email readings, alongside tuition and mentoring services. Comments directly related to blog post content are welcome at CelestialSpot and are posted at the editor’s discretion. Celestia is a pen name.